G/TBT/N/AUS/120  
18 May 2020  
(20-3634) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  English  
 
  NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6  
 
1. Notifying Member:  AUSTRALIA   
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):   
2. Agency responsible:  Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers , email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different fro m above:   
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade  
Email: tbt.enquiry@dfat.gov.au  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other :  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  
Children's  toys containing magnets – being children's toys that are products designed or 
clearly intended for use in play by children under the age o f 14 years. This review 
addresses the risk of children ingesting small high -powered magnets which may be present 
in a range of children's toys, including magnetic building sets, scientific sets and toy train 
sets, for the purpose of functionality. Note: Th is review applies only to children's toys 
containing magnets and applies to toys that contain magnets as a component of the 
product. There is also a separate ban on small high -powered magnets in Australia, this ban 
applies to products that are entirely and  only small high -powered magnets.  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Review of the 
mandatory safety standards for children's toys – Consultation paper (29 page(s), in 
English)  
6. Description of content:  The ACCC is propos ing to update the mandatory safety standard 
for children's toys containing magnets to allow suppliers to comply with any of the 
following widely -adopted voluntary standards:  
• International Standard (ISO 8124 -1:2018  - Safety of toys – Part 1: Safety aspects 
related to mechanical and physical properties ) 
• European Standard (EN 71 -1:2014+A1:2018  - Safety of toys – Part 1: Mechanical 
and physical properties ) 
• American Standard (ASTM F963 – 17 - Standard consumer safety specification for 
toy safety ) 
• Austral ian/New Zealand Standard ( AS/NZS ISO 8124.1:2019 – Safety of toys Part 1: 
Safety aspects related to mechanical and physical properties , which is a domestic 
adoption of the International Standard).  
The proposed safety standard would not impose any requireme nts other than those 
contained in these standards. Allowing compliance with these standards would reduce the 
current regulatory complexity and duplication for suppliers, thereby reducing technical G/TBT/N/AUS/120  
 
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  barriers to trade.  
While these standards have comparable re quirements to the current mandatory safety 
standard, they intend to reduce the consumer hazard by limiting the scope of toys that are 
permitted to be supplied with 'loose as -received' small high -powered magnets.  
The attached consultation paper outlines our  preliminary consideration of the hazards and 
policy approaches for five children's toys standards, including the mandatory safety 
standard for children's toys containing magnets.  
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:  The objective of the mandatory  safety standard is to reduce the risk of serious 
injury or death to children under 14 years of age from swallowing small high -powered 
magnets  in toys. The current mandatory  safety standard  was introduced in respons e to 
incidents of serious injuries to children in Australia and the death of a child in the United 
States after swallowing several small high -powered magnets released from a toy. When 
swallowed, small high -powered magnets attract to one another in a child' s intestine and 
can cause enough damage that the weakened intestines can burst open. If the bowel 
bursts, it becomes a life -threatening surgical emergency. In most cases, removal of the 
magnets will require surgery even if they haven't yet caused a perfora tion; 
Protection  of human health or safety  
8. Relevant documents:   
• Consultation paper – Review of the mandatory safety standard for children's toys  
• Current safety standard – Consumer Protection Notice No. 5 of 2010  
• Product Safety Australia page  – Children's toys containing magnets  
• Product Safety Australia page  – Permanent ban on small high -powered magnets  
• The Internati onal, European and Australian/New Zealand standards are available for 
purchase from  SAI Global . The American Standard is available for purchase 
from ASTM International . 
9. Proposed date of adoption:  Any proposed amendment to the safety standard would be 
adopted the day after it is registered.  
Proposed date of entry into force:  The proposed safety standard would provide a 
transitional period (usually 12 months) to allow suppliers to move to the new 
requirements. During the transitional period suppliers may choose to comply with the new 
standard or the requirements set out in the current safety standard.  
10. Final date for comments:  60 days fr om notification  
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available , of other body:   
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade  
Email: tbt.enquiry@dfat.gov.au